In Hyderabad, thousands protest against ban on two TV channels

Political leaders, student unions and social organizations came ahead to support media whose freedom had been attacked by the newly-carved state of Telangana

GN Bureau | July 7, 2014

People in Hyderabad attended a rally to protest against the ‘illegal’ banning of two news channels — Tv9 and ABN Andhra Jyoti in Telangana for the past 25 days.

Condemning the action of multiple system operators (MSOs) under the alleged influence of the Telangana state government, people from various sections of the society demanded immediate response from the government on the issue.

Political leaders, student unions and social organizations came ahead to support the media whose freedom had been attacked by the newly-carved state of Telangana.

TV9 has been running a political satire called ‘Bullet News’ for the past six months. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao condemned the news channel by stating that one of the content of the segment degraded the newly-elected MLAs of Telangana and moved a resolution against TV9.

Subsequently, TV9 issued an apology to the MLAs and the programme was taken off air.

However, the MSOs have imposed a ban on the telecast of TV9, including ABN Andhra Jyothi, calling them anti-Telangana channels, after a statement was issued by CM Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana assembly against the two news channels.

Police have arrested thousands of people who were participating in the rally.

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